Posted By Paul on Jan 18, 2017 | 7 comments

How I felt writing the LeanMode review.

No BS Review: Evlution Nutrition LeanMode

Writing the Evlution Nutrition’s LeanMode review made me wish I hadn’t bothered setting the alarm in the morning, and instead had opted for another hour of sleep (I got up early for this? WTF?). As this critique will demonstrate, Evlution pretty much “phoned it in” when it came to putting together the formula for this product.

So What’s the Problem?

The problem, essentially, is that most of the core ingredients in LeanMode are either under-dosed or have been thoroughly discredited.

Call me a skeptical bastard, but I don’t see any reason for their inclusion in any product at this point other than to capitalize on their popularity (both of these discredited ingredients received a ton of exposure on the Dr. Oz show a few years back, who later had his ass handed to him by a U.S. Senate Committee for essentially promoting “snake oil.”).

However, if the folks over at Evlution Nutrition wanted to the spark the, “hey, I’ve heard of that stuff, this must be a good product” response from consumers, they certainly did a good job of that.

LeanMode Review Ingredient Breakdown

So what’s in LeanMode that’s got me all worked up and wishing I was back in bed instead of writing this? A conglomeration of the usual suspects…

Image Courtesy of Amazon

1) Garcinia Cambogia extract:

My recent YouTube video, “3 Garcinia Weight Loss Myths” lays out all the issues with Garcinia, but if you don’t want to watch it, here’s the bottom line…

Despite its resurgence in popularity (thanks to the lingering effects of being featured on the Dr. Oz show and hordes of eager affiliate marketers promoting it on every nook and cranny of the Internet), garcinia is not new and has already been through several sales cycles.

And the verdict on it is in. Has been for a loooong while. A study published back in 1998 found that garcinia did not outperform a placebo.

Since then, several smaller studies have demonstrated garcinia to be moderately helpful, however an analysis of these studies concluded…

“The evidence from randomized clinical studies suggests that Garcinia extracts generate weight loss on the short term. However, the magnitude of this effect is small, is no longer statistically significant when only rigorous randomized clinical studies are considered, and its clinical relevance seems questionable.”

What this essentially means is that if you discount the studies for which there were significant problems with methodology, there isn’t a whole lot left to work with to support claims of weight loss and appetite suppression.

That’s what, “its clinical relevance seems questionable” means.

In other words, if garcinia works at all, it doesn’t do much.

So why is it included in LeanMode?

Public familiarity with the ingredient or a couple of guys in product development wanting to go to an early lunch. You choose. It’s not for its incredible thermogenic properties.

2) Green Coffee Bean Extract

Green Coffee Beans

Like Garcinia, Green Coffee Bean has also been “around” for a while. And like Garcinia, it also gained notoriety on the Oz show.

That’s where it was promoted breathlessly by Oz’s special guest, Dr. Lindsay Duncan, largely on the basis of this now retracted and fully discredited clinical study and the fact that Lindsay, who is a greedy asshole, saw an opportunity to line his pockets by fleecing Oz’s viewers.

Duncan was later fined $9 million by the FTC, who stated, “Lindsey Duncan and his companies made millions by falsely claiming that green coffee bean supplements cause significant and rapid weight loss…”

As for the clinical study praising Green Coffee’s weight shredding effects, the FTC concluded that “… the study was so hopelessly flawed that no reliable conclusions could be drawn from it.”

So where does that leave Green Coffee Bean (standardized for something called chlorogenic acid)?

Well, even without the retracted study, there’s some animal data that suggests its helpful, and even a handful of smaller human studies (although a fairly recent meta analysis of these positive studies recommends that “more rigorous trials are needed to assess the usefulness of GCE as a weight loss tool”).

So while it may not be a complete and total dud, until we see some solid evidence to suggest otherwise, I think it’s fair to say that Green Coffee Bean extract isn’t exactly going to move weight loss mountains.

3) CLA (Conjugated Linoleic Acid):

CLA is a non-essential fatty acid.

A non-essential fatty acid, CLA has been proven to be useful for weight loss in a number of clinical studies. (This one, for example, showed a benefit when taken at a dosage of 3.2 grams (3200 mg) per day.)

As a result, CLA would be a nice addition here, except for one thing; a 2-serving dose of LeanMode doesn’t deliver anywhere near the dose necessary to be effective. You’re only getting 1,000 mg of CLA instead of the required 3200 mg proven effective.

Sigh. So close.

4) Acetyl L Carntine

L-Carnitine suffers the same problem as CLA – it’s under-dosed.

While study data showing its weight loss effects are conflicting (some show a positive effect, others show none), one thing is clear… you need to take a LOT of Carnitine (like 3-6 grams daily) if you are to expect anything in the way of results.

There is 1 gram in 2 servings of this product.

And don’t buy into the hype that Acetyl L Carntine is a more effective form of Carnitine and therefore a lower dose will do the trick. As detailed in another recent video, “6 Things You Need To Know About Taking L Carnitine for Weight Loss” this claim isn’t supported by clinical data.

5) Green Tea (standardized for EGCG)

Green Tea

Green tea (discussed in detail here) is a welcome addition to any over the counter diet product, especially when it’s standardized for the catechin EGCG (“epigallocatechin gallate”).

And while EGCG on its own is moderately helpful, it offers the greatest benefit when it is combined with caffeine.

There is no aditional caffeine in this product, which means the full potential of this extract is going to waste.

Side Effects, Testimonials & More

All testimonials have to be taken with a very large grain of salt (since there is absolutely no way to authenticate them) and since they’re anecdotal at best, you can’t attribute a lot of credence to them. To be fair however, when you see a large number of comments essentially echoing the same thing, it’s a pretty good indication that something is going on.

And in this case, the feedback I read (mostly on BodyBuilding.com) indicated most people found LeanMode very helpful – especially for suppressing cravings and hunger. Anecdotal reports suggest that garcinia, despite being a relative dud for weight loss, is helpful for appetite suppression, so this isn’t that surprising.

Several people commented on how it didn’t cause “the jitters”.

Considering it doesn’t contain any stimulants (save for the possibility of a few milligrams of caffeine from the green tea extract – the green coffee is decaffeinated), that’s not particularly surprising.

One comment: most of the positive comments I read were on the powdered form of the product (which is mixed with water and drunk) and not the capsules (also available).

Since this product isn’t jacked to lid with stimulants, it’s unlikely to cause any side effects for anyone, especially folks with heart disease and high blood pressure who are usually warned to avoid such products.

Evlution Nutrition LeanMode Review Wrap Up

Alright, let’s put this sucker to bed. What’s the bottom line here?

Meh.

The formula itself is pretty uninspiring. I was joking when I said it almost seems like it put together by a couple of guys (or gals) who were looking to get out to an early lunch, but in all honesty, that’s what it looks like to me.

To be fair however, it’s not outrageously expensive ($22.99 for 150 caps or $19.99 for 30 servings of the punch at BodyBuilding.com) and most people who use it seem to be happy enough with it, many of the them reporting on the products’ appetite suppressing qualities.

Maybe that’s enough for you, I dunno.

I report, you decide.

If you’ve used LeanMode, please leave a comment below and share your experience. If you found this review honest and helpful, please do share it on your favorite social media networks by clicking the buttons floating on this page. I’d really appreciate it. Thanks for reading!